Like A Band of Gypsies We Go Down the Highway

"On the road again
Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway
We're the best of friends.
Insisting that the world keep turning our way
And I can't wait to get on the road again."

Something tells me that this weekend, Willie Nelson might lose us on the last line. We're getting set to embark on the most grueling road trip of the year and arguably one of the toughest in college athletics. For our Columbia-Cornell weekend swing, we'll log just about 800 miles from Thursday evening to early Sunday morning! It's a five hour trek to Columbia on Thursday night, taking on the Lions on Friday night, then just under 5 hours up to Ithaca, take on the Big Red on Saturday night and six-plus hours home after that

Getting into your second destination well after midnight and having to play at 7 p.m. is really grueling. I continue to contend that it is both unfair and unhealthy and that it is the one Ivy weekend that should be played Friday night, Sunday early afternoon. But that's for a whole other other story.

Anyhow, as our followers know, we are very much used to life on the road and our players like the structure those days bring. Even though the rides can get LONG, I like it too as it's a break from the office and it's when I best get to know the players and coaches, which is what helps me do my job well.

But I'll turn it over to Coach Wielgus, who has come a long way from the days of driving the team in vans, eating homemade sandwiches.

- Dara

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"Bus Life"

Like rock stars on tour, we travel the main corridors of this country going from one gig to the next. Our home is the bus. Each of us has our own space and our own routine. There are the readers, the texters, the movie buffs and the sleepers. To be a sleeper is to be truly blessed. There are two players I have never seen awake on the bus.

For most of us however, we are awake or dozing, but rarely sleeping. We go from idle conversation to a movie and back again to idle conversation. Movies are tough ... to pick out. The criteria is mind boggling: content, movie stars, relevance across generational lines and now loudness must be taken into account. Whoever picks out a movie is subject to much scrutiny and ultimately ridicule. I should know. I picked them out for the last trip - it has been strongly suggested that I NOT venture into Video Stop for the duration of the season.

But the bus is where it happens. During the endless hours of banter we learn about one another and our families. We also learn to entertain ourselves. Of course there is always students studying and staff disrupting them, but every once in a while there will be an open mike, player entertainment and iPod karoke. Every once in a while, we start laughing and can’t stop.

The bus is our clubhouse that forces us to just hang out together. Hanging out - face to face interaction is a treasured experience in this high speed internet, text or e-mail me world in which we live. Hanging out with our staff and players is a blast!

- Coach Wielgus